


The Clock Mechanic

by JackyM



Category: Welcome to Night Vale, wtnv
Genre: M/M, anyways they're both adorable so if you want cecilos fluff please read this ;v;, cecil is not immortal, cecilos - Freeform, so if you are looking for that i'm so sorry ;w;, spoilers for [Best of?], there is fluff AND plot it's a 2 for 1 deal!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:05:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4114903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyM/pseuds/JackyM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the biggest mysteries of Cecil's is his age, and for Cecil's birthday, Carlos had decided to answer that question once and for all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Clock Mechanic

**Author's Note:**

> It dawned on me yesterday that it'd be a really cute if I Carlos found out Cecil's age, as a birthday present of sorts! I didn't sleep much last night, as you might imagine. 
> 
> This title is terrible, bleh. My idea behind it is "well, like...clocks...time...and he's like...answering a huge problem, and it's kind of like fixing a clock". Mehhh. I don't like it, but, I also do! ;w;
> 
> One thing I will say, as a bit of a disclaimer, is that I am not quite on board with the theory that Cecil is some immortal being (aware of it or not), and therefore it is not implemented in this fan-fiction. However, with that being said, I have no issues with that theory and I think it's a fine theory with very suitable backup! I just don't agree, is all! I have my own little theory, and you will see it in my fan-fiction! 
> 
> Oh, also, a special little thank you to everyone who gave me their head-canon age for Cecil! I averaged out all of the ages and the average was 40.9, which I rounded up! So, ye, thanks again to everyone who helped me out with this! It was totally appreciated!
> 
> (*whispers* You can follow me on Tumblr, my URL is hushpupper!)
> 
> Enjoy, lovelies! <3

A mystery, to Carlos, and to Cecil himself, was Cecil’s age. Indeed, for Cecil it seemed to be a source of anxiety and consternation. More than once Carlos could recall being shaken up by Cecil in the middle of the night, his boyfriend in a panic as he broke down in Carlos’ arms, his sobs heavy heaves and his tears wet and hot. Though he was half asleep, Carlos could understand one thing amongst Cecil’s unintelligible fatigued speech in the very young hours of the morning; not knowing his own age was taking a serious toll on Cecil.  
Perhaps that was why, with Cecil’s birthday around the corner, Carlos figured it’d be a decent time to figure out the answer to such a perplexing question, as a gift to Cecil on his birthday. As long as there were questions with no answers, there would be people finding answers to those questions. Those people were scientists. And Carlos was a scientist.

Perhaps, Carlos had wondered, finding out Cecil’s age might not be a wise idea. Cecil was a firm believer in how not all things (most things, actually) needed answering, and Carlos didn’t know if Cecil’s age was lumped into that category; “most things” seemed to imply though that mysteries such as Cecil’s age were probably not meant to be answered. Carlos wasn’t quite in agreement with that mentality, but he decided to ask Cecil, regardless. It wouldn’t be right to suddenly go on a scientific expedition on discovering his boyfriend’s age without telling him first. Oh, and, getting his permission. He’d need Cecil’s permission to do this. A nasty surprise was the last thing Carlos would want to give Cecil on his birthday.

* * *

 

“Hey, uh, Ceece,” Carlos had said very suddenly on one of their late night drives out into the wastes beyond Night Vale, “may I ask you question?”

“Of course you can. I mean, I don’t have the answer to everything, because nobody can be sure of anything, but you can most certainly ask me things,” Cecil said, not taking his eyes off the road. Carlos couldn’t exactly see him in the dark of the car, but Carlos could feel him smiling. Carlos swallowed and felt his hands begin to nervously flap from where he had them sitting on his lap.

“You know how I said last week, when you asked me what kind of super secretive thing I was cooking up for your birthday, I had said that it wasn’t really important for you to know just yet, because I was still considering it?”

“Mhmm?”

“Well, it’s important for you to know now.”

“Nooooo, Carloooos. Don’t spoil it for me!”

“Um, Cecil, technically it won’t come to your knowledge until your birthday. But I think you need to know about the process of it. I was not sure how you would react and I had a mix of emotions towards what I was doing. I felt excited, but also very nervous and sad at the prospect of you not liking it.”

“Honey, whatever it is, I’m sure it’s wonderful. Anything coming from you will be wonderful. It’s one of the reasons I look forward to my birthday, even though the point of celebrating it is kind of not there.”

“Yeah, I, I-I kind of needed to ask you about that,” said Carlos, feeling his arms begin to flap more as he felt ever more nervous about the topic, “Cecil, um, I think I know of a way to find something out, but I needed your permission, first.”

“Carlos, what does this have to do with what you’re doing for my birthday?”

“I think, Cecil, I think that there is a way I can find out how old you are! I think it’s possible! I think that if I sit with bubbling fluids and look into a microscope and say ‘hmm’ in a certain way, I know I can find a scientific explanation for everything and answer this! And, Ceece, honey, my sweet chain of disaccharides, I know this would answer a question that, I know, you’ve told me, should not be answered, which is why I am asking you if I can answer it.”

Cecil was silent for a few moments. He kept looking at the road, expanding in the darkness underneath the headlights. Carlos kept looking at Cecil. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking. Cecil inhaled, audibly, and exhaled through the mouth with a slight grunt that Carlos heard, very clearly. He wasn’t sure what that meant, either. Carlos swallowed.

“Cecil?”

“Well, that’s,” Cecil said, trailing off for but a moment, “that’s certainly something, Carlos.”

“Is that all?”

“No, no, it’s not all. Carlos, you know I support your science, and I support you, doing your science. But, Carlos, is any of that even possible? I’ve spent a long time trying to figure it out. Maybe I’m not a scientist, but if I can’t figure it out...”

“Maybe I won’t figure it out,” said Carlos, “and some things cannot be figured out right away. Maybe they will be some other time, in the future when more information and ways of processing that information are available. But Cecil, I am going to try. Not for science--well, partially for science. But not just for science. Also, for you. I know how much you’ve worried about this, Cecil, and I want to try to help you.”

The car slowed, and came to a halt along the side of the road. Looking up, Carlos saw a multitude of stars and strange lights in the sky through the sunroof, all glimmering a multitude of colors. Carlos was once unsure of why the stars glowed the way they did, so brightly and vibrantly. He was still somewhat unsure. But he not one iota less fascinated by them. Cecil turned on one of the lights, so that he could see Carlos looking up at the sky in clear light. Carlos was still staring at them when Cecil’s voice cut through the silence. Not with ease; it seemed to work through the silence with some effort, crawling through large rocks and cavernous gaps and finally breaking the dead quietude.

“I know you do,” Cecil said as they both make eye contact, “and, Carlos?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s one of the many reasons I love you.”

“But...Cecil, is it okay? I wanted to ask you first, if it was. I didn’t tell you because I was worried that you would be uncomfortable or even scared of this, and I would be so upset if you were any of those things, because of me. Because I love you, honey, and I-I...I don’t want--”

“Shh, Carlos,” Cecil interrupted, taking hold of one of Carlos’ trembling and flapping hands and holding it in his own two, “I know you would never do anything to hurt me, let alone, do so intentionally. I know that’s not what you’re trying to do here.”

“You do?”

“Mhmm. And, Carlos?”

“Yes?”

“I wish you luck,” Cecil said, squeezing Carlos’ hand, “but, I mean, you don’t need it, because you’re a scientist, and you don’t believe in luck unless it’s scientifically approved luck, right?”

“Right!”

“Then I wish you all the positive emotions I can possibly give, because I know you’ll at least find something scientifically interesting out. I’m glad you asked me, Carlos. Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that, Cecil.”

“Well, I mean, it’s more than your average government agent would do. If they want to research you they’ll just do it without asking first. And they won’t send you the results, either. In fact, you won’t know they did any research at all! Not to imply their research isn’t important. For them. You just never know about any of it.”

“I’m not a government agent, though, Cecil! I’m a scientist! And a scientist has to send their results out to everyone to make the information they have collected more widespread!”

“I know you are,” said Cecil, bringing Carlos’ hand to his kips and kissing it, “and you are the best and most handsome and most wonderful scientist I know. I love you so much, Carlos.”

“I know, Cecil. And I love you so much, too.”

That night out was a wonderful night out. The two of them stared at the stars and the bright mysterious lights in the sky, and talked absentmindedly and thoughtfully about anything that came to their minds. Carlos slumped over and leaned against his boyfriend, and tenderly wrapped his arms around Cecil as he drowsily hummed the tune to a song Cecil couldn’t recognize. Carlos had a way of being so adorable when he was drowsy, his face full of the peace and innocence that seemed to define him, but still full of the life he was always used to seeing whenever he looked into Carlos’ eyes.

Oh, old gods, masters of us all.

He was so in love with this man.

* * *

 

It was another hot afternoon. Rochelle couldn’t understand for the life of her how Carlos managed to wear a lab coat with long sleeves when she herself was ready to tear off all of her clothes, even if it meant growing scales. Anything would be better than roasting.  
As of a few days prior, Carlos had been working on an extremely large project. Carlos was trying to figure out how old his boyfriend Cecil was. Apparently it was some huge mystery nobody really knew. Ordinarily Rochelle would consider that weird, but in Night Vale, everything was weird. The dorky radio guy’s age being a mystery was nothing compared to some of the mathematical anomalies she’d researched. That, and nothing could possibly be as weird as how much that pterodactyl they were keeping seemed to love David. The thing always bonked its head on David’s and made loving shrieks at him, and screeched threateningly at anyone else. Well, no. It also really liked Carlos. It just didn’t seem to like strangers, and Rochelle. Which Rochelle was fine with, because she wasn’t particularly fond of the airborne reptile, either. They tolerated each other nonetheless, and once or twice Rochelle had scratched its snout and let it bonk her head with its nose. Another instance that was also very, very weird.

Rochelle found Carlos at his lab table. Originally they hadn’t really had their “own” tables, they just kind of morphed into that, with each table marked with the experiments they were doing. David’s table was covered in small insect and reptile cages, some sitting on his papers, with an overgrown desert vine snaking around its legs and beginning to bloom (which Rochelle had to bat away with her foot or hand whenever it tried extending its limbs out to poke her). Rochelle’s was far neater, with organized papers and journals separated by subject and latter, and her calculators all lined up in a row in front of her computer, with diagrams displayed on the wall next to her table. Carlos’ was kind of in the middle. He had a few potted cacti he’d collected, some dirty beakers, a scented candle, a microscope, and a complete mess of papers absolutely everywhere. Carlos said there was a very scientific reason for them being there, but Rochelle knew Carlos well enough to know that was just his way of saying he was disorganized but there was a method to his madness, and a scientific one at that. Really, there was no question who’s table belonged to who. Rochelle cleared her throat, and waited for Carlos to nod and let her know it was okay to interrupt.

“Carlos, you’re sure this’ll work?”

“I don’t know for sure if it will, Rochelle,” said Carlos, not looking up from his microscope, “but, you know what the first rule of scientific procedures are.”

“Yes, I know,” said Rochelle, nodding, “it’s ‘do it even if you’re not sure if it’ll work, trust me, I’m a scientist and I work with science, and procedures are weird, stop questioning me, I know what I’m doing, you jerk’.”

“Yes, that, exactly!”

“How far’ve you gotten with this, anyways?” she asked, sitting down on a stool next to the table Carlos was working at.

“I’ve gotten...reasonably far. I don’t have an exact number yet, but I’m getting there.”

“You’ll get an exact number. Science is all about getting inexact numbers that lead up to an exact number. And you’ve put a lot of time into this, too. You’ll find an answer soon.”

“I hope I do,” said Carlos, smiling as he rubbed his eyes, “it’s a very exciting process, finding out his age! I’ve stumbled upon some very different numbers!”

“Like what?”

“Well, one number I found was 46, another was 31, another number was 1,082 and another number was 14! These numbers are not his age, necessarily, just numbers that I have found, as finding numbers is an important thing to do.”

“How’d you find them, then?”

“By looking at cell samples and estimating their age, and many other similarly complex methods that involved a lot of bubbling liquids and saying ‘hmm’ a lot! And it’s worked! I’ve gotten many different numbers from all of this! I just need to--ohhh! I just need to find out how they’re all connected, and which numbers are age related!”

“Yeah, that thing you just said!”

“That thing I just said!”

“That thing you just said!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“I’m gonna do it!”

“You’re gonna do it!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah! Oh, oh, do you think he’ll be surprised and excited?”

“I think he will,” said Rochelle with a smile, “I mean, this is pretty awesome.”

“It is! I can’t believe it! We’ll finally find out! We will finally know for sure what his age is! Rochelle, I’ve always believed in the definition of science, ‘I don’t know, but I’m trying to find out, okay?’. And I didn’t know, but I’m trying to find out and I’m going to find out soon! I’m going to find out so soon! Because, that’s what science is, and I study science, because I’m a scientist!”

“You are!”

“I am!”

“And I bet Cecil will love what you’re doing.”

“I bet he will to,” said Carlos, smiling as he excitedly flapped his hands, “I bet he will!”

* * *

 

Carlos took extra care to make sure he didn’t accidentally spill the beans once he figured out Cecil’s age. It was the day before Cecil’s birthday when he found out Cecil’s age, and excitedly stood up and yelled the number several times before excitedly running about the lab and telling every organism in the room that he could see what Cecil’s age was. It was indeed an exciting day, and Carlos could hardly contain his excitement, and it took all the world to not blurt out to Cecil how old he was when he got home. Cecil was very aware of his excitement, and suspected Carlos figured something out. Carlos was beaming and excitedly flapping his hands and could hardly sit still the entire night, which made Cecil smile as well. When he asked Carlos what could possibly be making him so giddy, Carlos only shook his head, and said i was a surprise, and he’d find out the next day. When Carlos wasn’t quite settling down after they turned off the lights, Cecil rolled over and poked Carlos.

“Did you...Carlos, did you find out what I think you found out?”

“I don’t know! Do you think I found out what you think I found out?”

“I don’t know, did you?”

“I may have, Cecil! I may have!”

“Well, I’m not supposed to know until tomorrow,” said Cecil, ruffling Carlos’ hair, “so go to sleep. And stop being so cute. I can’t sleep when you’re being so cute.”

“Really? What if,” said Carlos, grabbing Cecil and hugging him, “this happens?”

“Noooo, not the cuddles!”

“Yes, the cuddles!”

“Carlos, I’ll never sleep if you’re going to be that cute!”

“I guess we’ll have to stay up together, because I cannot stay up if you’re this cute.”

But they were both wrong about that.

They fell asleep a few moments later, once Carlos’ excitement teetered off as Cecil continued running his hands through Carlos’ hair and as Cecil felt Carlos’ arms around him, holding him closely.

* * *

 

Everything was set up, and ready for Cecil’s arrival home. He’d be back any minute now. Carlos had a few Palmer’s penstemon he’d been growing for the occasion (as they would definitely not be growing in the middle of the winter, even if it was relatively warm), and he’d picked the flowers off and deposited them into a vase with water in it. They’d be going out to dinner almost as soon as Cecil came home, but Carlos wanted to tell Cecil how old he was before that, so Cecil would know what year of his life he was celebrating when they went out, and hopefully, not have that sense of worry he had when his birthday rolled around. Not knowing how old he was, especially on his birthday, seemed to be something about his birthday that Cecil disliked and had much anxiety over. More than anything, Carlos wanted Cecil to not worry, and to really enjoy his birthday for the first time in...well, a long time.

Carlos had found out a few months prior it was possible to experience living in a different point in time or even space if one lived in Night Vale. Apparently, with how weird time was, it was possible for memories from different places in time an alternate version of oneself lived in to leak into one’s own memories. When Cecil and Carlos heard the best of some of Cecil’s recordings while Cecil visited him in the desert otherworld for the first time, Cecil said he had no memory of any of them, and was baffled; which led to Carlos investigating it the moment he was living back in Night Vale, and able to get his hands on items that had been carried over from alternate universes; old tapes, newspapers, anything he could find. Carlos found out time and space overlapped often in Night Vale, and unintentional time travel was even possible. Apparently Josie was the only person unaffected by this, as she had never encountered memories from another iteration of herself in some other time and place. Indeed, she seemed to have the best memory out of anyone in Night Vale, and she herself said it may be because her memories weren’t mottled from alternate versions of herself who were born 200 years ago.

Which explained, Carlos concluded and explained to Cecil, the memory problems he seemed to have, along with many other citizens in Night Vale, and explained why Cecil honestly had no idea how old he was.

But today, Carlos had an answer to that, and he could hardly wait as he waited for the sound of the door opening. Even his hand stimming couldn’t contain his excitement; which meant he was beyond excitement. Something beyond excitement could define his current feelings, which meant it was even more than exciting.

Carlos was putting some more water into the vase when he heard the door open. Carlos jumped and was running over to Cecil and jumping into Cecil’s arms before Cecil finished welcoming himself into his own home. Cecil smiled, and lifted Carlos up to his eye level.  
“I wonder what you have planned for tonight!”

“Oh, I have something really special planned for tonight, Cecil! And um, I-I was going to tell you what I wanted to tell you during dinner but I was so excited and I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on dinner unless I told you as soon as you got home, so I am going to tell you now, okay?”

“Okay,” said Cecil, walking over into the living room and placing Carlos on the couch. He sat down next to Carlos.

“You ready?”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Alright! So, after a lot of very scientific research and extremely arduous scientific work that a scientist must do to answer such puzzling questions, I have landed on a conclusion! And it is a very scientific and important conclusion, because it answers a question someone I care very, very much about has been unable to answer due to scientific reasons it would take too long to explain right now because there is a very pressing thing I need to tell this person?”  
“Uh-huh?”

“Cecil,” said Carlos, taking a deep breath and putting a hand on Cecil’s knee, “you’re forty-one years old!”

Cecil inhaled for a moment. He looked down at the dark orange carpet, and said nothing for a moment. He put his hand where Carlos’ hand was resting on his knee, and gently stroked it. Cecil nodded slowly. Carlos couldn’t see his face entirely, but he could see Cecil was breathing slowly and thinking about something very, very deeply. Carlos rested his hand on top of Cecil’s, and waited for Cecil to say something. It was a few more moments before he did.

“Forty-one, you said?”

“Yeah!”

“Forty one,” Cecil repeated, “that’s how old I am.”

“Mhmm! Scientifically speaking, that is how old you are! It’s a scientific fact, backed up by numbers. You cannot argue with the numbers, Cecil! The numbers are an absolute fact, completely unaffected by anything. According to my experiments, on your cells and also you, you’re forty-one years old!”

“Thank you,” said Cecil, finally looking at Carlos, “thank you, so much, Carlos. You don’t know--you don’t know how important this is to me. I haven’t...I didn’t...oh, Carlos, I had no idea for the longest time. I don’t think I ever even knew. I was afraid that I would never know, and I would just have to live without knowing. But...now I do know, Carlos. I know...I know. Thank you so much, Carlos. You’re such a wonderful scientist. Such a wonderful, brilliant, thoughtful scientist.”

“I know,” said Carlos, blushing a bit and reaching over to try wiping away the tears forming in his boyfriend’s eyes, completely ignoring his own tears, “and you’re a wonderful, brilliant, thoughtful honey-voiced radio professional and journalist, and I love you so, so much.”

“I love you too,” Cecil said as he pulled Carlos into his arms. The two of them embraced for a long moment. One of the strong, tight embraces that they gave each other in the moments when they just couldn’t contain their love for each other and it came spilling out.

“You know,” said Cecil, after almost ten minutes of hugging and on the verge of happily sobbing, “I’m hardly older than you. I’m like, what, a couple of months older than you?”

“Yeah, you are!”

“It makes me wonder just how lucky I am to have been born at the same time as you, to have somehow managed to share the same time and place as you. To actually have done so, because I apparently have been, despite the memories I have suggesting otherwise.”

“Well, there’s a scientific reason for those memories! They’re not actually yours, but, they also are yours, at the same time!”

“I know, I know, I’m just...oh, Carlos. I’m so happy. I’m so glad I know this now. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome,” said Carlos, nuzzling his boyfriend in the crook of his neck, “it was a very exciting process! I should be thanking you for giving me such excitement over such an interesting scientific mystery!”

“Excuse me, Mr. The Scientist, I thanked you first.”

“This is true! I think we’re also thanking each other, but for different reasons. I am happy, Cecil, and very excited that I could do this, and that you could find this out. I’m so glad you know this now, because, you’ve always been so worried about this, and I have always been afraid your birthday and so many other times were hard for you, because you didn’t know this, and, Ceece, I’m just so glad you know this now.”

“Oh, Carlos,” said Cecil, kissing his boyfriend’s forehead, “oh, my god, Carlos. What could I ever have done to deserve you?”

“You didn’t do anything to deserve me! I love you, and you love me! And you love me so much, and I love you so much, and I decided to do something I knew would be meaningful and wonderful and just, so important to you...I had to, Cecil, because I love you so, so much, and you love me, so, so much! Cecil, you’ve always loved and supported me and been just as excited about the things I have been excited about and...I’ve never met anyone as amazing as you before.”

“Oh, my god, come here,” said Cecil, once again crying as he pulled Carlos closed to him and kissed his lips. Carlos himself began to cry, and the two of them slowly began kissing on the couch and crying, so in love with each other and barely able to contain how passionately they cared for each other, spilling over the brim with love and compassion and unable to think of anything else.

“Happy birthday, Ceece,” Carlos said in-between a long and passionate and warm kiss.

“Thank you, my sweet. I know you know this, and, I know I’ve said it a lot, but...oh, god. I love you. I love you so much, Carlos.”

“I love you too.”

They continued kissing on the couch for a while longer, and finally decided to get up and go to dinner when Cecil suddenly realized he hadn’t had anything for lunch except three cups of coffee, and he was ready to eat a pillow out of starvation.

Cecil had had many good birthdays in his past. Some of which happened in the 1930’s, the 1820’s, and the 1740’s to his memory.

But none of them could match the ones he had with Carlos.

Especially that one. Everything about it was so wonderful...the news Carlos had for him, the night they spent at Gino's, the drive they took out to the sand wastes and then back to the Arby's parking lot, and the cuddling they did in front of Cat Ballou, which they watched five times in a row.

It really was, at least in Cecil's strange way of recollecting, the best birthday ever.


End file.
